Valve



Feb. 19,'F '1924;

1,483,991A D. w. sL-ATTERY;

VALVE v Filed --Junei 1, 1920 2 snguyssheat.l .2f

Patented Feb. 19, 1924.

4uurrla-n STATES 1,483,991 PATENT OFFICE-f.

DONALD SLATTERY, '0F EAST CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE WELLMAN- SEAVER-MORGAN COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO. v

VALVE.

Application filed June 1,

T 0 ZZ y1li/mm t may concern:

Be it known that I, DONALD lV. SLA'rri-un', a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at East Cleveland, in the county oi". Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Valves, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. A f

This invention relates to valves, particularly hydraulic valves of the pressure operated plunger type. Hydraulic valves are commonly a employed at the present time having plunger-s which are moved to open and closed positions by admitting pressure to one of two chambers and exhausting pressurefromthe other, these chambers being usually called the opening and closing chambers. `Some of these valves are not satisfactory in all respectsand are open to serious objection, particularly when operated -under comparatively high heads.

One of the principal objections is the tendency forthe valve to lclose suddenly as the plunger is nearing the end of its closing stroke, due to theV sudden termination of pressure onthe nose of the valve opposing the pressure'in the closing chamber. y W'hen the valve is being closed, pressure is supplied to the closing chamber and exhausted from the opening chamber; and the effective force which moves the plunger to closed position is thc difference between the total pressure in -tbe closing chamber and the pressure of the water acting on the nose of the valve` but this opposing pressure. on the nose of the valve is a variable quantity, for as the plunger approachesdts seat, duc to a restriction of the discharge opening there .will be an increase in velocity of Water past the plunger. and consequently a drop in pres. sure on the nose of the plunger` or a reduction of the force opposingthe force in the closing chamber` which latter is const ant. Near the termination of the stroke of the plunger` the plunger restricts the area of the discharge opening to a point such thatsulicient water no longer passes through the valve to fill the pipe line beyond the valve,v and this will result in a break in the water column and the production of a vacuum on the nose side of the plunger. Thus the force on the noso of the plunger which has been 'resisting the closing movement suddenly attais a` negative value and the vacuum tends 1920. Serial N0. 385,684.

to pull the plungnn to its seat, thus adding an additional force to the closing force; In consequence, the plunger will complete the last quarter inch or or half-inch of its stroke almost instantly, causing water hammer which under extremely high head is dangerous.

l nother objection to some of these valves vlies in the fact that under certain conditions the valve plunger has a tendency to creep to closed position. For example, it is desirable, and in fact, necessary under high pressure conditions that the valve b e"bypassed,7 that is to say, it is necessary that the valve be opened very slightly so asvto allow the pipe beyond the valve to slowly fill with water before the valve is fully opened. To do this the control valve is moved from neutral to the. open position and'then when the valve is cracked it is'returned to the.

neutral position. But pressure builds up'in the closing chamber due to leakage, and the high velocity of the water around the nose of the plunger offers practically no force tol oppose the force in the closing chamber, and as a result the valve will close before the bypassing is completed.

Furthermore, when the valve is opened after the completion of the ley-passing, there y is often a tendency for the plunger to-creep shut, due to a change in pressure on the nose ot the plunger by an increase in velocity.

By the present invention l provide what may be termed a balanced plunger valve which overcomes the, objections above enumerated.

The invention may be said to consist in the provision of means b v which pressure oil opposite sides of the nose of the plunger is cqualizedl so that any variation of the presl sure acting on the nose'of the plunger will have no effect on its action, the result being that the plunger Will be moved at a constant rate as long as a constant force is applied, and if the force is removed with the plunger in position other' than full open or full closed position it will remain lin that position just as effectively as if the plunger were in dead or still Water untilforce is again applied to cause the valve to complete its stroke.

The invention may loefurther briefly' sunlmarized as consisting in certain novel details of construction, and combinations and lasv `have shown a construction which answers the requirements very effectively, and in the drawings, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional l view taken substantially centrally through ber to the valve; and Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through the valve.

The valve here showii,comp1ises a'casing 10. circular in cross-section and adapted to beconnected at its ends to pipes 11 and 12, the How of watcrbeing in this instance in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, i. e. from pipe 1,1 through the valve champipe 12.

Boththe inlet and outlet endsof the casing, 10 may be of the same diameter as in this instance, or if desired, one end of the casing may be larger than the other. Furthermore, the casing may be formed wholly of castings, or as in this instance, partly by a casting and partly from sheet metal, the casing in this case being composed of a body portion 10:L in the form of acasting and having it-s inlet l end 10b from sheet or rolled steel...

Cast. integrally with the body portion of the casing and connected to the annular wallthereof by radial ribs 13 (see particularly Fig. 2) is' an internal Cylinder 1-1, which contains a4 sliding valve or valve plunger 15. A seat ring 16 is machined or inserted on the conical end or nose 17 of the plun ver, which ring is located as near as possi le to the outside-cylindrical wall of the plunger. The seat ring 16 is designed to engage with a similar seat ring 18 machined or. inserted in thevalve body at the neck or outlet end. The plunger is guided on liners 19 on the radial ribs 13, and o n a continuous liner 2O at the frontend of the cylinder 14'.

Bolted to the back end of the cylinder 14 is a conical head 21 which with the cylinder 14 and plunger 15. form a central closed space or chamber A. The continuous liner 2() over which the plunger slides, as heretofore stated, forms a seal betweenthe chamber A and the water passage of the valve body.

In the internal chamber A and bolted to the head 21 of the valveis a cylinder 22 containing a piston 23 connected to the plunger by means' of a connecting rod 24. The piston divides the cylinder into two chambers which may be designated B and C. the former being the opening chamber and the' latter the closing chamber. Both these chambers communicate with the Central chamber A by small ports 25 and 26,and it may be here stated that the chamber A communicates with the main water-way in the valve chamber by a port 27, the function of which Will be explained presently.

formed To control the supply to and exhaust of pressure from the chambers B and C, any suitable control valve may be made use of. ljoi' example, the control valve may be of the type shown in'my application, Serial No. 374,671, lilcdApril17, 1920, for valve control, if electrical operation is desired, or if hand operation only is desired, a simple four-way valve such as indi'cated conventionally at 255 may be utilized. Pressure is supplied to the valve 23 from'the pipe line 11 by a pipe 29, and from the chamber of the valve 2S there extends a pipe 30 for exhausting. to atmosphere. Likewise the chambers of the valve 23 are connected to the chambers B and C of the cylinder 22 by two pipes 31- and 32, both of which extend from the outside of the valve casing to the central chamber A through a suitable header 33. 4

Then the valve 28 is in neutral position, the passage of waterthrough pipes 31 and 32 is prevented. Then the valve handle is moved in one direction from neutral position, pressure is supplied to chamber C and exhausted from chamber B so as to cause the main valve to close, and when the handle of the-four-way valve 28 is moved to another position, pressure is supplied to chamber B and exhausted from chamber C.

To attain the chief objectof this invention, i. e. to at all times maintain the same` pressure on the inner side of the valve plunger as exists on the nose of the plunger, I provide what may be termed an equalizing pipe 34- whicli is connected at 3ft to the neck of the valve just beyond the seat 18, and is also connected to the central chamber A, this pipe extending` through the header 33 already lreferred to. This pipe 34 is preferably provided with a shut-oft' valve'35, though this valve is normally open so that it will maintain the equalization of pressure on opposite sides of the nose of the plunger. A. detlector 36 may be provided over the port 34 so that the precise pressure which exists at the neck of the valve chamber will be communicated to the interior of the plunger.

For the automatic control of the main valve I prefer to employ certain additional apparatus which per se are not claimed herein, but which are fully disclosed in my prior application referred to above. F or example, I may employ a solenoid operated valve. indicated conventionally at 37, which valve has a connection 3S with the pipe 32 and a pipe 39 which will exhaust to atmosphere, and I .prefer to employ a pressure guage 40 which is connected to the pipe line 12 beyond the valve and will have its4 contacts so set that if the pressure in the line beyond the main valve is reduced to a certain value, as by breakage in the line beyond the valve, this pressure guage will cause the energization of the solenoid otvvalve 37 which will cause pressure Ato be exhausted from-chamber B and as the pressure will gradually buil' up in chamber Cby the passage of water through the port 25, the plunger' will be slowly moved to`closed position.

Additionally I prefer to provide an indicator rod 4l which is connected to the plunger' 15, and provided at its outer end with an arm 42- which operatestwo switches 43 and 44 adapted to close the circuit through lamps or e uivalent indicating means to indicate the c osed and open posilions o't' the valve plunger. Likewise this arm 42 is adapted to open a normally closed limit switch 45'just before the plunger seats, whchlimit switch will be wired up to the solenoid of valve 37, so' that just before the main valve seats, the solenoid will be de-energized for the purpose-fully described vin my prior application.'

Theoperation is as follows: Assuming the main valve t0 be open with the direction of flow as shown, there will be the same pressure in the central chamber -A and also in chambers B and C of the inner cylinder as that acting on the nose of thevplunger, due to the equalizino pipe 34. The control valve will 4now be in neutral position with all ports closed. It is obvious that since' pressure on the nose of the plunger is equal to the pressure in the central chamber, to move the plunger, only suicient force must be exerted to overcome friction of the plunger sliding on the guides. In other words, the plunger may be said to be lying in dead water. In order to close the main valve the control valve.will lbe operated to exhaust pressure from chamber B and admit pressure to chamber C. The plunger 15 will then start to move through itsstroke. As the discharge passage kfor v the water in the valve casing is gradually reduced in area by the closing movement of the valve plunger 15, the pressure on the nose of the plunger will be gradually reduced. hut whatever pressure exists on the nose ot' the plunger will be communicated by the pipe 34 to the central chamber A, andin consequence the rate of movement of As the plunger nears its seat, a vacuum will form in the line beyond the valve as already described, but through the provision of the equalizing pipe .34 the vacuum will he communicated to thev central chamber A so that the enormous closing force which has heretofore existed is avoided, and i'n conse-- quence the plunger will quietly seat without 'the instantaneous or su( den closing which is so dangerous with some types of valves, especially when used under high head conditions. l

It will be readily seen that as the plunger reaches a certain point in its stroke, such that the pressure in the down-stream pipe l2 drops to the predetermined value at which the contacts of the pressure gauge have been set, the gauge will energize the solenoid and open the valve 37 to ,discharge 'to atmosphere, exhausting chamber B which also is open to exhaust by means of the control valve 28. fore, 'atl'ect the `closin operation of the main Ivalve un-der normalr conditions.v As. the valve about Seats, the limit switch 45 will cause the de-energization of the'solenoid of valve 37, and the valve 37 will return to its seat and the flow-from chamber B through 37 will be stopped. .When the main valve is seated, the control valve will be returned to neutral position, stopping thepassage of water through pipes 31 4and 32.

-It might be mentioned at this point, that the port lby which pipe 32 communicates with the lchamber B of the inner cylinder 22, is so located that this port will be partly closed by the piston just before 4the valve 'plunger seats, lso that a cushioning effect will be had.

It a dry linel is desired beyond vtheA plunger of themain valve, when thelatter is closed, it is only necessary a valve 35, in which event pressure will build up in the central chamber, creating an enormous closing'force which will tightly seat the valve, making it practically what is knownvas a drop tight valve. However, valve35 in the equalizing pipe 34 lmust be opened before the plunger' of the main valve can be opened.

Assuming open the valve the control valveJ 28 will be the main valve to be closed, to

This does not, thereto close the turned 'to admit pressure to chamber-B and v.

exhaust pressure from `chamber C otA the inner cylinder 22. The main valve plunger l5 will then start through its opening stroke, and when it has moved about oneeighth'or one-quarter of an inch, depending upon the adjustment, the limit Switch 45 will close and energize the solenoid of the solenoid valve 37 which will exhaustpressure troni chamber B into which the control valve is admitting pressure. Since the equalizing .pipe 34 maintains the same pressure conditions on both sides ot the plunger 15. it is evident that the plunger 15 willstop.l later will then slowly till the pipe line beyond the main valveup to the predetermined point at which the contact making pressure gauge 40 is set. When this point is reached the contacts will break the circuit of the. solenoid of valve 37, and the valve 37 will close, cutting otl' the. exhaust of water from B, and when this occurs, the plunger will continue its opening movement since the control valve is now admitting pressure to chamberB. This may he called automatic toy-passing, which is fully claimed in my prior application.

The ports 25 and 26 communicating with the chambers B and C of the cylinder 22, are smallerthan the port openings by which the pipes 3l and 52 communicate with these chambers, the .function of the ports 25 and 2G being to allow the escape of any air which may be carried into the chambers B and C, and the port'25 serving to permit pressure to build up in chamber C so as to cause the closure of the main valve should the pressure beyond the main valve drop to the point such that` the pressure gauge .causes the energization of the solenoid of valvev 37. and the exhaust of pressure from chamber B of the cylinder. The port 27 is simply an air hole to allow the escape ofA any air which is in the central chamber.

It will be seen from the above, that by maintaining the same pressure on the inner and outer sides of the nose of the plunger of the main valve, the objectionable characteristicsheretofore mentioned of pressure operated plunger valves as heretofore generally constructed and operated, are entirely overcome, and it will be apparent also that the provision of the equalizing pipe or other means to cause the equiliZation-of pressure o'n the inner and outer sides of the nose of the plunger can be employed advantageously with valves which are constructed and operated differently than that here shown, and I therefore do not desire to `be confined to any details of construction and arrangement except t0 the extent required by the terms of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. In combination with a-conduit, a valve comprising a casing, a hollow member within the casing having a plunger, means for shifting said plunger to open and close the valve, and means independent of the means for opening and closing the valve and extending to the exterior of the valve for maintaining within said hollow member substantially the same pressure that exists on the vnose'of the plunger.

2. In combination with a conduit and a valve therein comprising an outer casing and an inner hollow member with a movable part constituting a plunger, lof means extending to the exterior of the casing for maintaining substantially the same pressure in said hollow member as exists on the nose of the plunger'. and separate means for openin cr and closing the valve.

2.5. In combination with a conduit, a valve therein comprising a casing, an inner hollow member having a stationary part and a movable part constituting a plunger adapted to be shifted to open and close the valve, means for opening and closing the valve, and an equalizing pipel communicating with the interior of said hollow member through the stationary part thereof and with a point in the water-line outside said hollow member so as to maintain within said member substantially the same pressure as exists on the nose of the plunger regardless of whether the plunger is' stationary or is being moved in either direction. i.

4. In combination with av conduit through which a fluid is adapted to be conducted, of a. valve in the conduit comprising a casing having a seat, a hollow member with-in the casing having a plunger adapted lto .be moved to and from the seat to close and open the valve, pressure operated means to open and close the valve,"and means independent of said pressure operated means and extending to the exterior of the casing for maintaining substantially the same'pressure within said hollow member and` on the inner side of t-he plunger as exists at a definite point in the water line adjacent the seat.,

5. ln combination with a conduit tlfrough which a fluid is adaptedto be conveyed, of a valve in the conduit comprising a casing having a seat, a hollow' member supported within the casing and having a movable part in the form of a plunger adapted to 'be shifted to and from the seat to close and open the valve, opening and closing chambers to which pressure is adapted to .be supplied and from which pressure is adapted to be exhausted to cause the opening and closure of the valve, and'a stationary passageway communicating at one end with the chamber, and communicating at its 'other end. with the water way by which 'the pressure on -the outer end of the plunger is maintained on the inner side of the hollow member.

6. ln combination with a conduit throu h which a fluid is adapted to be conveyed, o a valve in the conduit comprising a casing having a seat, an inner hollow member with a movable part in the form of a plunger adapted to be moved to and from the seat, means for shifting the plunger to open and close the valve, and an equalizing pipe wholly independent of the opening and closing means extending between said' hollow member and a point in the water line beyond the seat, whereby the pressure on the nose of the plunger is communicated to the interior of said hollow member.

7. In combination with a Huid conduit, a valve in the conduit comprising a casing, an inner hollow member having a movable part in the form of a plunger, means for shifting -the plunger in one direction to open the valve and in the opposite direction to close the valve, an equalizing passageway communicating with the interior of the hollow member and with the water-way for maintaining within the hollow member during both the openingand closing movements of the plunger substantially the same pressure 4 Way.

that exists on the nosek of the plunger, 'andmeans for *opening and closing said passage- 8. In combination with a conduit, a valve therein comprising an outer casing and an inner hollow member with la movable part constituting a plunger, means for actuatin said plunger to open and close the valve, an

a stationary passageway communlcating ,10 with the interior of the valve andwith the the hollow member substantially the same pressure as exists on the nose of the. plunger regardless of the position of the latter or its DONALD W. SLATTERY.

waterfway and serving to maintain within 4 

